Why are we facing such extreme temperatures?
People across the country have been battling sweltering heat as Britain is hit by an unprecedented heatwave.
Temperatures soared above 30C in Southampton on Monday and Tuesday while the country’s record for the hottest temperature was broken in Lincolnshire.
We spoke to Dr. Simon Boxall from the school of ocean and earth science at the University of Southampton to find out why it’s so hot and whether we’re out of the woods or not.
First thing’s first, why was it so hot in Southampton?
Dr Boxall said: "The whole world has been getting hotter and we have seen rising temperatures across Southampton and the UK. It is a very vulnerable scenario, and it’s not just Southampton.
"In fact, Southampton has got by lightly and the reason is we are a maritime climate.
"If you move away from the coast, you will find places are hotter or cooler depending on the time of year. The sea is a buffer and absorbs heat – it’s a fridge door in the summer or an oven door in the winter.
"Why is it hotter now? Well, we have to be careful we don’t blame everything on climate change but it does have its effects.
READ MORE: 'The weather here is crazy' - Temperatures soar on hottest day on record
"According to sea temperatures recorded by NASA, Southampton Water is warmer than it should be at this time of year, by two or three degrees.
"This means we have less of ‘sea buffer’ in this hot temperature. We are in an intense period of heat now and in some countries, such as India, there are temperatures rising above 50 degrees because of the changing climate.
"This means we have different weather patterns. Weather is driven by pressure systems."
Stay close to the sea it is! What are pressure systems?
Dr Boxall: "High pressure is great for sunny days, whereas low pressure is stormy weather with high winds. These two pressure systems work to maintain the jet streams.
(According to the Met Office, the jet stream flows high overhead and causes changes in the wind and pressure at that level. This affects things nearer the surface, such as areas of high and low pressure, and therefore helps shape the weather we see.)
This week's exceptional #heatwave brought record breaking temperature across the UK 🌡️
— Met Office (@metoffice) July 20, 2022
Here's a round up of the latest figures 👇
Quality control of these records is currently being carried out and they will be confirmed in due course pic.twitter.com/wOAmxgOzY6
"The ice caps melting in Antarctica results in a pressure increase, which is having an impact on sea temperatures.
"The pressure systems then spread hot air across the continent, which has come towards Britain.
"In the last 12 hours alone we have seen the low pressure get slightly higher. Every year we seem to break more records and part of the reason for this is our pressure systems are changing."
What can we expect for the near future?
Dr Boxall: "It’s hard to predict what is going to happen in the coming weeks but we will see more of these high temperatures.
"People say it’s just as bad as in 1976 but it wasn’t.
"Temperatures reached 35.9 degrees in 1976 and that’s almost five degrees cooler than yesterday (July 19).
"This was the hottest weather we have had, in the past two days and we are going to see more of this.
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"For the past two days we have been sitting on a baseline that’s pointing upwards, like the time of the Industrial Revolution.
"We have seen the majority of our hottest days in the last 20 years and the temperatures are going up and up.
"Bit by bit, climate change will affect us."
How can we prepare?
Dr Boxall: "We need to adjust and prepare for all these hot periods. Houses in places such as Spain, France and even Australia are built for hot weather and designed to be cool which makes a big difference.
"British houses are designed for the cold. Our developers and builders need to be able to build our houses for hot weather.
"We are seeing changes taking place to tackle this, from electric cars to alternative resources.
"Plus, people are becoming more and more canny about using energy.
"It’s important we mitigate against these changes that are taking place.
"We still need to reduce our carbon footprint and encourage the government to put changes in place.
"It is a long-term plan and will outlive any politicians, so it’s not a vote winner."
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